The Glitch V: Taste of Fear (Episode 1)

[Agent Fisher]

Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "God, it's always this difficult, isn't it?" He mumbled. He looked up at Poe. "Alright, here it is. I came down here to stop my niece from trying to track down the Cannibal and getting hurt. She's stubborn so I agree to help her search, humoring her. Then, I get a message from an agent of the Shadow Don to go to an address. There, I run into my long dead friend. After that, we went to your office as instructed by the agent. So, we're here to search for the cannibal, as are you. So, are we done posturing and subtly threatening each other?"

[B4UTRUST]

James smiled.
"Sure. I wasn't trying to threaten you subtly or otherwise. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't about to put the Cannibal in a group devoted to finding the Cannibal. "

[LadyTevar]

Elizabeth Hope Thogchylde, on the other hand, was sitting inside the 'Hog and sulking. Yes, it looked like Gregory was totally out of it and in need of protecting, but still it was embarrassing. Then again, Lizbet was not yet brave enough to say anything more in front of Matt.

Thus, sulking as Matt and Uncle Jack spoke to Poe, and only casually looking around them. However, some things stand out, no matter where they are. "Huh... What's a Azaroth Death Knight doing here?"

[General Havoc]

Gregory was not really next to Lizbet right now, indeed he wasn't "really" anywhere, but he still heard her ask the non-sequiter question.

He'd been watching the meeting itself, and had thus missed the Death Knight. Living in this world, one simply got used to seeing all kinds of weird stuff wandering around. But once the question was voiced, it was instantly important, and Gregory turned his vision around and moved over to the Death Knight in question.

Obviously, he had no idea what a Death Knight would be doing here. Maybe nothing. But just maybe...

"There's a Death Knight in the crowd," he said, whispering, or some cognate thereof, so as not to startle anyone, his voice beamed like a satelite feed straight into Lizbet, Matt and Jack's heads. "He's just... staying there."

[LadyTevar]

LizBet frowned, briefly wanting to swat the voice in her ear before reminding herself he wasn't really there. "Azaroth's Knights don't leave often...." Lizbet said aloud, biting her lip. The war-like leader of the former World was a pain in the side for Zelda and Peach both. "... great big poopie-head..." Lizbet muttered as she recalled meeting their leader.

Lizbet made her decision, based on her political knowledge. "Gregory? Keep an eye on the DeathKnight. Azaroth's still very war-like... and they take pride in their craft. They also rarely go far from home without a reason."

[General Havoc]

Had Gregory currently been incarnated in his physical body, Lizbet would have seen him wince at the horrible pun.

"I'm on him," he said. It had been a while since he'd played any Warcraft, but he was pretty sure that Death Knights, for all their might, had no means of magical detection. And on top of that, Gregory's "Clairvoyance" was, as far as he knew, undetectable anyway.

"He's not doing anything," he said, not as an update but simply to make a point. Not doing anything was odd in a public place. Granted, he could just be waiting for another Death Knight to show up or something, but with someone like this it was best to be sure.

[Charon]

Matt smiled. "Good, then we'll call our people and you'll call yours? Have a proper meeting?" He looked into the restaurant. "I'll admit, been awhile since I've had good restaurant food."

[B4UTRUST]

Poe raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think my 'people' aren't already here?"

James smiled and rose from his seat before making a 'come-on' gesture with his hand and walking into the restaurant. The table would be ready in a few minutes anyway.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack activated his phone app on the omni-tool, calling LizBet. "Hey, come on in, we're having a meal." He said and followed Poe into the restaurant.

[LadyTevar]

"Yes, Uncle Jack," was the quiet reply. "Wake up, Gregory, we're being called over."

[frigidmagi]

Jeremy put down his book and stood up.

"Time to head in." He said to his armored compatriot.

[SirNitram]

Snapping the paperback closed and placing it back, Malkamar nodded as he stood, taking up Shadowmourne and putting it across his back. "Perhaps there will be time for food this time."

[Charon]

Matt laughed and kept his mouth shut. He didn't head into the restaurant yet though. He wanted to see this backup for himself, and he wanted to make sure Greg and Liz managed to get into the building without causing any trouble.

[General Havoc]

Gregory lingered long enough to see the Death Knight drop his pretense and approach the meeting area, and when he awoke, it was with a faint smirk on his face. Lizbet had been right. The Death Knight was a part of this.

His smirk vanished moments later when he opened his eyes and found himself encased in what looked like an iron lung. For a second, he panicked, thinking in the moment of disorientation that accompanied his return to embodiment that his entire sojourn in the Gameverse had been a dream, and that he had woken back up in a hospital in the real world, plugged back into some enormous life-maintaining machine to which he was once more pinned. He screamed, actually screamed in fright, though fortunately his telepathy had ended the instant he severed his connection. And it wasn't until a second or so later that he noticed the eyeslits in the visor of the helmet he was now wearing, and realized what had happened.

What Lizbet thought of the transformation was hard to say. To her, it looked as though a suit of thick, plate steel armor had simply grown up around Gregory's catatonic body like a cocoon, encasing him entirely within seconds. The armor was jet black, and cold to the touch, with etchings and carvings of skulls adorning its entire surface, into which brilliant sapphires had been inlaid that glowed softly in the car's interior. Rich drapings of sable velvet covered the armor's joints, and a billowing cloak lined with ermine fur draped over the seat beneath him. The helmet, eyeslits glowing blue from the outside, obscured his entire face behind a fence of steel spikes, and at his side, Gregory's spiked, mailed gauntlets rested upon the hilt of a long, glowing sword, carven in runes of glowing crystal, from which wisps of frost were slowly rising, fogging the windows. From inside his metal casing, Gregory could barely see anything, but had he been able to see himself from the outside, he would instantly have recognized the costume. Having used his power to scry upon the potential enemy that was a Death Knight of Azaroth, his power had, in turn, dressed him in the vestments of the Lich King.

It took ten seconds for him to calm down from the horrible shock. He was used to waking up wearing a uniform wholly different from that which he had fallen asleep wearing, but this was beyond the pale. He knew that the sword at his side was a mere cosmetic replica of ceremonial use only, that the armor possessed none of the eldritch enchantments and supernatural durability of the original, and that in any event, he was singularly unqualified to use either to full effect, yet the cosmetic effect was enough to give even him pause. Moreover, whatever the armor was made of, it was still a suit of metal plate, with joints that would only move by main force. It was with difficulty that he managed to sit up, to open the door, and to quite literally stumble out of the car. The helmet restricted his peripheral vision, the sword at his side felt like an anchor, and he could not figure out how to detach or remove either. With extreme effort, he managed to stand, his lame leg refusing to take the weight of the armor, and took a tentative step towards where he thought the others would be before tripping and falling to his hands and knees, the sound of the armor clanging on the sidewalk like a percussion orchestra in his head.

He hoped to God that this Death Knight was friendly, because dealing with this was getting old fast.

[LadyTevar]

LizBet had been watching with interest. The transformation was absolutely fascinating. Gregory's movements, however, were not. As he crashed to his hands and knees, she knelt down beside him. "Why didn't you pick something you could walk in?" she asked drily.

[General Havoc]

"I didn't pick this at all," said Gregory, exasperatedly, picking himself up as best he could. "It... picked itself." He really didn't know how else to explain it. Fortunately, the stuff was nowhere near as heavy as a real suit of armor, but it was still metal, and had to weigh nearly sixty pounds. The sword might as well have been a block of cement for all the good it could do, wrecking his already fragile balance, and the helmet was plainly designed for someone who could see by means other than eyes. It couldn't have used a warlock or something, no...

He managed to stand up, fiddled with the helmet to try and disconnect it, and finally gave it up as either impossible or near enough, before slowly trying to make his way over to where he thought the others were.

[SirNitram]

What makes a Death Knight's head snap around? The sight of Arthas Menethil, The Lich King, standing nearby. "Scatter!" he shouted, particularly at the detective he had been paired with. Shadowmourne leapt into his hands, crackling with the energies of the Nether. Malkamar didn't know how Arthas walked again.. But he had to stop him.

[LadyTevar]

there were times to be smart, times to be heroic, and then there were just the times when you move without thinking. "NO DON'T!" Lizbet said, shouting at the DeathKnight as she jumped between him and Gregory. "it's just a suit!"

[B4UTRUST]

When someone as tall dark and unsettling as a death knight says scatter, one tends to listen to their words of advice. James reacted by almost simultaneously knocking over a table and diving behind it. When he landed, his guns were in his hands and he was already looking for The Alchemist and The Berserker. Had this been a setup? If it wasn't, it was one hell of a bad coincidence. As soon as his eyes fell on the two he pointed a gun each in their direction.
"Don't fucking move!"

[Charon]

"Scatter!"

That was enough to get Matt drawing his own weapon, ducking, and looking for the target.

What he saw confused the hell out of him. Liz was now standing next to some short heavily armored guy, with another heavily armored guy drawing what he instinctively knew was a weapon that was bad news. Then the paranoid detective decided to make things worse.

For now, Matt decided to go with the vaguely smarter option and maneuvered himself between James and Liz while keeping his weapon pointed this apparent newcomer that was with Liz, though he kept one eye on the armored behemoth, gauging his chances.

"Liz. Who the fuck is that and where's Greg?"

[Agent Fisher]

Jack jerked around at the yell, hand ready, mind picturing the necessary arrays for a fight when he looked back, spotting Poe. He sighed and raised his hands.

"God, it's going to be one of those days." He muttered.

[frigidmagi]

Jeremy took a dive and came up behind a rolling cart of some sort, he popped up with pistol in hand.

"Who? What? Where?" He sputtered keeping the pistol pointing up.

[SirNitram]

Malkamar stood fast, staring at the Lich King. He had seen him destroyed! See Frostmourne shattered, seen the Helm Of Domination given to a new bearer. Shadowmourne crackled, yearning for more power.

Others were deployed, but could they really withstand this? And strangest of all, the girl standing in the way. "You! Why are you protecting him?" No sudden movements. Arthas hadn't gone offensive yet. This was disturbingly normal, given his theatrics.

"Don't they teach kids anything? That's the Lich King! He's not a nice guy!"

[LadyTevar]

"Oh please...," Lizbet snorted, dropping her arms. "Isn't he a little SHORT for the LichKing?" She stepped aside, so the Death Knight could get a good look at Gregory in the badly-fitting armor. "Look at him! He's barely able to WALK in that armor!" The derision in her voice was plain and biting, although Gregory couldn't know that her scorn was for the over-reacting adults.

"Now, if you would like to put your weapon away," Lizbet continued, hands at her sides as she started walking to the restaurant, "I'm hungry and I'd like to get inside and eat." Her gaze fell on the other so-called adults who'd taken defensive positions. The rolled eyes was typical of all teenagers when the adults around them were acting stupid. "You're scaring the tourists."

[frigidmagi]

"Uhhh.... Who's the Lich King?" Jeremy asked his pistol still pointing skyward.